Waltair Division continues to get a raw deal

Diversion of even special trains adds insult to injury

The East Coast Railway (ECoR) authorities in Bhubaneswar seem to be once again at their old game of ‘bypassing’ Visakhapatnam and Waltair Division, which earns the maximum revenue for the zone.

After diversion of regular trains via Duvvada, they seem to have now turned their attention to special trains.

Ironically, the Odisha Chief Minister, who is worried about the loss of revenue to ECoR, if Waltair Division was de-linked from the zone, is silent on the continued injustice being done to the division.

Train No. 02508/02507 New Jalpaiguri-Thiruchirapalli-New Jalpaiguri weekly premium special via Vijayawada will be operated from June 23 to July 10, 2014. These trains will stop at Asansol, Bhubaneswar, Vijayawada, Chennai Egmore and Villupuram in both directions.

The path and halts are decided by the South Eastern Railway (SER) in consultation with ECoR, SCR and SR for the train running between Howrah and Chennai. In other words, the halts and path in ECoR jurisdiction are chosen in consultation with the authorities concerned in Bhubaneswar but the latter seem to have conveniently ignored Visakhapatnam, says an RTI activist, who has been following the developments. The existing six important trains being diverted via Duvvada are: Howrah-Vasco Amaravathi (four days a week), Howrah-Puducherry Aurobindo weekly, Bhagalpur-Yeswantapur Anga weekly, Santragachi-Tirupathi weekly, Santragachi-Prasanthi Nilayam weekly, Howrah-Yeswantapur Duronto (five days a week) and Kamakhya – Yeswantapur AC weekly express for which no stoppage has been given even at Duvvada, thereby totally ignoring Visakhapatnam district.

No issue of tickets

Interestingly, the 02510 Kamakhya – Bangalore Cantt. premium special train is given a technical stoppage at Visakhapatnam but no tickets are issued either to or from Vizag, reflecting the apathy of the ECoR authorities towards the needs of passengers from Visakhapatnam.

Union Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu and Vizag MP K. Haribabu brought the issue of re-routing the diverted trains through Visakhapatnam to the notice of the Railway Minister recently.

Slideshow

Workers carryingout repairs to Visakhapatnam District Collector's Office, as it was damaged in Cyclone Hudhud in 2014 October. The majestic heritage building was designed and built by Dutch engineering company Gannon Dunkerly in 1865 and completed by 1914. Photos: C.V. Subrahmanyam